Innocent Drinks makes first profit since 2020

Innocent Drinks has returned to profit for the first time since 2020 as its revenue continued to rise, it has been confirmed.

The business, which is now majority-owned by Coca-Cola, has posted an operating profit of £13m for 2024, late-filed accounts with Companies House have revealed.

It is the first time Innocent Drinks has reported a profit since the £4.8m it achieved in 2020.

Since then it has posted losses of £9.5m in 2021, £41.3m in 2022 and £3.7m in 2023.

Innocent Drinks’s turnover also increased from £452.9m to £466.1m over its latest financial year.

The company was founded in 1998 by Richard Reed, Adam Balon and Jon Wright. It is now 90 per cent owned by Coca-Cola.

Innocent Drinks hails impact of ‘the blender’

A statement signed off by the board said: “In 2024 Innocent continued its journey of profitable growth, underpinned by a maturing end-to-end supply chain and a sharpened strategic focus.

“Our factor, ‘the blender’, now produces 70 per cent of our drinks, enabling greater control over our cost base and production processes.

“This has not only improved operational efficiency and output but also contributed meaningfully to our profitability and environmental goals.

“Turnover and operating profit both increased year-on-year and we strengthened our market share across most of our key European markets.

“The improved performance reflects the stabilisation of our operations and the benefits of prior investments in manufacturing capability.”

Earlier this year, Nicki Garland was appointed as the new UK and Ireland boss of Innocent Drinks.

Garland succeeded John Taylor who moved to a new role as GB franchise operations senior director at Coca-Cola.

She became Innocent Drinks’ third UK and Ireland managing director in just over a year when she was announced in June.

The overall business is run by chief executive Nick Canney.